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Extinct dinosaurs’ and birds’ long names

“Micropachycephalosaurus”­ is a monotypic genus of ornithischian dinosaur. It lived in Shandong Province, China during the Late Cretaceous period . The incomplete skeleton of the single specimen was found on a cliff southwest of Laiyang. It was bipedal and herbivorous, and currently has the longest generic name of any dinosaur. Ironically, it was also among the smallest of the dinosaurs, at a little over 1 meter long.

The genus contains only the type species, “Micropachycephalosaurus hongtuyanensis“. Paleontologist Dong Zhiming originally described it as a member of the Pachycephalosauria, a group of bipedal dome-headed herbivores. However, re-evaluation of the family Pachycephalosauridae by Sullivan in 2006 cast doubt on this assignment. Further study of the original specimens by Butler and Zhao in 2008 also failed to find any characteristics linking “Micropachycephalosaurus” with the pachycephalosaurs. The one piece of evidence that could provide this link, the supposedly thickened skull roof, was missing from the fossil collection the scientists examined, and so could not be used to support or refute its original classification. Butler and Zhao therefore classified it as an indeterminate member of the Cerapoda. In 2011, cladistic analysis performed by Butler “et al.” showed that “Micropachycephalosaurus” is a basal member of the Ceratopsia.

This reconstruction drawing shows Palaeoephippiorhynchus, compared in size to a human. Palaeoephippiorhynchus is an extinct genus of large storks. There are two recorded species, P. dietrichi from the early Oligocene of Egypt and P. edwardsi from the Miocene of Libya.